In the Wild

Tiniest Jungle Cat Rescued After Losing His Mom In Fire

A newborn margay recently rescued from a raging forest fire is not only alive and well, but also as cute as can be.

ARCAS, a wildlife rescue in Guatemala, saved the tiny jungle cat earlier this month when he was just a week old. "He was rescued from a raging forest fire," Arcas wrote in the post on Facebook. "His mother was severely injured and sadly nowhere to be found."

The group also released a photo of his very first bottle-feeding after arriving at the sanctuary.

Margays, small wild cats who weigh between 9 and 20 pounds, live in forests in Mexico and portions of South America (they used to live in Texas but are now extinct). They're well-adapted for arboreal living and can run vertically up and down tree trunks like squirrels, according to Florida cat sanctuary Big Cat Rescue.

Although the orphan's home was engulfed and destroyed, it's lucky he wound up at ARCAS. Margays were once "one of the most heavily exploited Latin American cats" due to hunting and habitat loss and are listed as near threatened, according to the IUCN, so each little life counts.

And if all goes according to plan, someday this little kitten will grow big and strong, just like the adult margay in this photo below, and be able to return to the wild.